Weather warnings issued for the Maritimes ahead of Friday rain and wind

Weather warnings continue in the Maritimes as rain and strong winds are forecast to develop for Friday evening and night.

Environment Canada has issued weather warnings for the Maritimes ahead of a stormy Friday night.

A Yellow Warning – Wind for Nova Scotia. Strong southerly winds will develop late Friday afternoon and continue into early Saturday morning. Peak gusts could reach 90 km/h except 110 km/h on exposed areas of the coast. Due to the topography of the Cape Breton Highlands southeast gusts of 130 km/h are expected Friday night until early Saturday morning for the area of Margaree Harbour to Bay St. Lawrence in Inverness County – Cape Breton.

Southern and northeastern areas of New Brunswick have also been placed under a Yellow Warning – Wind. Stronger winds will develop by late Friday afternoon and continue into the night. Peak southerly gusts of 70 to 90 km/h forecast except up to 110 km/h on the Bay of Fundy coastline.

Prince Edward Island is also now under a Yellow Warning – Wind. South winds will increase to include gusts of 90 km/h Friday night until early Saturday morning.

Similar weather systems with similar strength winds have caused scattered power outages and transportation service disruptions. You may also want to secure any holiday decorations that could be damaged by the high wind.

The Maritimes can essentially expect two periods of peak wind. The first Friday evening and night with the wind from the south. There will then be a brief lull in the wind early Saturday morning with the wind increasing again for Saturday afternoon. The Saturday afternoon wind will be from the west and have general gusts of 50 to 70 km/h.

The high wind will be accompanied by rain. The rain will develop Friday afternoon and evening before clearing early Saturday morning. Rain totals of 10 to 30 mm with pockets of 30 to 40 mm in the event of localized downpours. Snow melt along with the frozen ground will contribute to water runoff. A Yellow Warning – Rainfall has been issued for the Bay of Fundy area of New Brunswick, central and eastern areas of mainland Nova Scotia, and Victoria County – Cape Breton.

Some utility services and municipalities have begun preparations for the inclement conditions.